"Creativity takes courage" - Henri Matisse

Copy Camp: Stop Talking

December 4, 2017

I’m introducing a copy camp blog series aimed at telling some top tips for writing your own website copy. I realise firstly not everyone can afford a professional copywriter and secondly, even when you do hire a copywriter you can’t use them for every single thing you write so it’s good to get into some good habits nice and early.

This first post is focused on one of the biggest issues I see, saying too much. Your website copy is a breadcrumb trail to attract the right customers to your door. It is not your life story or the Harry Potter series. It doesn’t need to go on for pages and pages. It is more powerful to say one line that embodies your essence than it is to talk for reams about how you left your corporate job because you took the leap and decided to enter the blah blah industry so that you could offer blah blah service to the world.

Here’s the thing, it’s all about the tease. A woman in some luxurious lace lingerie is more tantalising than a naked woman because there’s something to unwrap, she leaves something to the imagination. When you say it all you take away the mystery of the getting to know her, the chase, the “will she text back”, the wondering, the sensuality, her lingering scent, the relationship as it unfolds.

This is so important in your marketing. Court your customer, get to know them. You can be intimate but stop talking about yourself, your exes, your past, your upbringing, your issues – get a therapist for this (sidenote: I know a great one). Show me just a hint of some lace and have the courage to keep it simple and minimalist… but meaningful.

My copy camp challenge for you this week is to critique your Home page copy and keep it beneath 150 words. Once you’ve got it to the right size, test it for effectiveness. Give it to someone to read*. Once they’ve read it, take it away again and ask them to tell you what they remember about you from that one page. You’ll soon know how effective it is.

And please tell me something of interest. And I don’t mean the name of your dog.

*Don’t give it to your mother or your best friend. If in doubt, give it to me, I offer affordable copy critiques that are honest and helpful.